BBB warns of Olympic scams

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Better Business Bureau is warning consumers that Olympic related scams have already started to emerge.

Many of the scams are emails announcing you have won tickets to see Olympic events.

Derek Hudson is an Information Security Analyst in Jacksonville.

He said one red flag is poor English in the email. So take note of the spelling and grammar in the email.

"Many of the scams originate from non-English speaking companies, especially in the eastern block and different parts of Asia," Hudson explained. "So look out for homophones. They are words that sound alike but are spelled differently and mean differing things."

Hudson also warns, don't click on the links inside the emails.

"It could take you to a scam site that looks exactly like the real one," he said.

Some of the information on scam emails may even be real.

"Many emails will have at the bottom, real contact information. But the scam comes earlier in the email," Hudson added.

Hudson said it can be difficult to know if the merchandise is official Olympic gear. He suggests ordering directly from the organization's own website, such as TeamUSA.org or from a well respected online company.

As for merchandise in the store, David Tomlinson of Football Fanatics says look for the hologram logo - with the Olympic symbol.

"Any official gear will have these tags on them, and not anyone else can reproduce these," Tomlinson noted. "This is from the manufacturer and you know it's authentic gear."